As mankind continues to develop around the world, the demand for energy continues to rise. Most energy used to power machines and generate electricity is derived from fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas or oil. These supplies are finite and their combustion causes atmospheric pollution and the production of Carbon Dioxide, which is suspected to contribute to global climate change. Some alternative approaches to produce energy include the harnessing of nuclear energy, wind, moving water (hydropower), geothermal energy or solar energy. Each of these alternative approaches has drawbacks. Nuclear power requires large capital investments and safety and waste disposal are concerns. Wind power is effective, but wind turbines require a windy site, often far away from grid connections and take up large footprints of land. Hydropower requires the construction of large, potentially environmentally harmful dams and the displacement of large volumes of flowing water. Geothermal power requires a source of energy that is relatively near the surface—a characteristic not common to a large portion of the Earth—and has the potential to disrupt the balance of forces that exist inside the Earth's crust. Solar power is abundant and continues to be one of the cleanest and most available forms of renewable energy and it can be harnessed by direct conversion into electricity (solar photovoltaic) or by heating a working fluid (solar thermal).
Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology relies on the direct conversion of solar power into electricity through the photoelectric effect: solar radiation's quantized particles, or photons, impinging on semiconductor junctions may excite pairs of conduction electrons and valence holes. These charged particles travel through the junction and may be collected at electrically conductive electrodes to form an electric current in an external circuit.
Photovoltaic is one of the most promising technologies for producing electricity from renewable resources, for a number of reasons: 1. The photovoltaic effect in Si and other solid-state semiconductors is well understood and the technology fully validated; 2. PV power plants convert directly solar power into electrical power, have no moving parts and require low maintenance; 3. Solar radiation is quite predictable and is maximum during hours of peak electricity consumptions; and 4. The industry has been aggressively pursuing a performance improvement and cost reduction path similar to the Moore's law in semiconductor electronics, approaching the condition of market competitiveness with traditional energy resources in many parts of the world. In 2010, approximately 16 GW of solar photovoltaic were installed globally, over a 100% growth from global installations in 2009.
While photovoltaic electrical generation is promising, the power plants are generally fixed to a fixed structure. Commercially available power plants are not easily disassembled, relocated and reassembled. This fixation does not provide for portability. Whereas a conventional combustion fuel generator can be towed behind or placed in a vehicle and moved to a remote location, PV power plants remain fixed on structures or in permanently mounted arrays.
It is desirable that to provide a portable PV power plant that can be readily disassembled, transported and easily reassembled at a remote location. It is further desirable that such a power plant be provided as a kit that can be joined with like units to create a large array that can be generally free of any permanent fixation, and as such, present no issues of permanent change to the environment or terrain. It is also desirable that such a power plant provide sufficient power for a variety of purposes common to a remote, typically off-grid location.